Firstly I would like to say that I have given this film a 7 out of 10 due to its try hard effort.
The film itself is quite stunning, the effects that they use to integrate Santiago Munez and Gavin Harris into the Real Madrid team would almost have you thinking that they were receiving passes from Raul and Zidane. Some of the sequences where the players have the ball at their feet though are totally un-realistic. I mean for example at certain times Santiago pulls off runs and tricks that just wouldn't happen in football. After around 3 step overs and a Cruyff turn followed by dribbling around two more defenders would just result in you being hacked to the ground. They seem to have made Santiago invincible with the ball at his feet, if they were to ask Cristiano Ronaldo what happens when he runs at defenders he would tell you that 99% of the time it would result in him being kicked! The film has an interesting storyline though, which is cleverly left with a lot of questions to be answered in the third film. A surprising twist at the end before the Champions League final certainly caught me out. However the story lines seemed to get tangled up and at times seemed a bit silly. Santiago seems to have too much going on too quickly, and you only have to look at the likes of Paul Gascoigne, Sol Campbell and even David Beckham, to realise that with all of the things going on off the field does not mean you are going to be scoring goals from 30 yards every match. Gavin Harris for me in this film has a far better storyline than that of Santiago. The football side of things in terms of the film got too predictable very quickly. I mean I don't want to spoil the film but at times I was left sat watching thinking, OK that was so blatantly obvious that it was going to happen it was unrealistic. The Champions League final will be a prime example of this.
I think that the acting in this film though was all around better in the sequel than the original. I think that Kuno Becker does a good job again as Santiago, making sure that the audience feel what is going on in his head is portrayed on the screen. Alessandro Nivola is superb as the ever arrogant/soft Gavin Harris, I think that Nivola does well to express what Gavino is going through in his time at Madrid, he almost makes the film feel as if it is about the pair of them, not just about Santiago. Anna Friel is stunning as ever as Roz and I think she did well in the role of Girlfriend to the superstar.
The cameo's in the film were a bit limited and to tell the truth I am quite glad. The film so easily could have ended up as Real Madrid the movie. I think that only Guti and Illker Casillas have speaking parts and even then it is whilst winding up Gavino. The Casillas part actually had me laughing.
All in all I thoroughly liked the film, as a football fanatic it seems only logical to love the film. However with some silly story lines and un realistic action they nearly spoiled the film.
The film itself is quite stunning, the effects that they use to integrate Santiago Munez and Gavin Harris into the Real Madrid team would almost have you thinking that they were receiving passes from Raul and Zidane. Some of the sequences where the players have the ball at their feet though are totally un-realistic. I mean for example at certain times Santiago pulls off runs and tricks that just wouldn't happen in football. After around 3 step overs and a Cruyff turn followed by dribbling around two more defenders would just result in you being hacked to the ground. They seem to have made Santiago invincible with the ball at his feet, if they were to ask Cristiano Ronaldo what happens when he runs at defenders he would tell you that 99% of the time it would result in him being kicked! The film has an interesting storyline though, which is cleverly left with a lot of questions to be answered in the third film. A surprising twist at the end before the Champions League final certainly caught me out. However the story lines seemed to get tangled up and at times seemed a bit silly. Santiago seems to have too much going on too quickly, and you only have to look at the likes of Paul Gascoigne, Sol Campbell and even David Beckham, to realise that with all of the things going on off the field does not mean you are going to be scoring goals from 30 yards every match. Gavin Harris for me in this film has a far better storyline than that of Santiago. The football side of things in terms of the film got too predictable very quickly. I mean I don't want to spoil the film but at times I was left sat watching thinking, OK that was so blatantly obvious that it was going to happen it was unrealistic. The Champions League final will be a prime example of this.
I think that the acting in this film though was all around better in the sequel than the original. I think that Kuno Becker does a good job again as Santiago, making sure that the audience feel what is going on in his head is portrayed on the screen. Alessandro Nivola is superb as the ever arrogant/soft Gavin Harris, I think that Nivola does well to express what Gavino is going through in his time at Madrid, he almost makes the film feel as if it is about the pair of them, not just about Santiago. Anna Friel is stunning as ever as Roz and I think she did well in the role of Girlfriend to the superstar.
The cameo's in the film were a bit limited and to tell the truth I am quite glad. The film so easily could have ended up as Real Madrid the movie. I think that only Guti and Illker Casillas have speaking parts and even then it is whilst winding up Gavino. The Casillas part actually had me laughing.
All in all I thoroughly liked the film, as a football fanatic it seems only logical to love the film. However with some silly story lines and un realistic action they nearly spoiled the film.
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